How should we approach diversity in STEM to achieve inclusive and non-discriminatory scientific research and education?

My name is Tanja Tajmel and I investigate diversity in STEM to find ways for change to provide an inclusive environment that is accessible and acceptable for everybody.

The underrepresentation of women, People of Color and other groups in STEM is the product of centuries of discrimination on different levels. It is social inequality and I strive to address these issues in order to give the buzzword “diversity” a deeper sense.

In 2015, the UN passed the Sustainable Development Goals declaration to focus on the necessity of science education as a right. I am exploring ways to implement the right to STEM education in secondary and post-secondary education.

I am investigating how current culture of STEM and its narratives reinforce STEM as a white/male dominated field, and how the advertising language around ‘diversity’ conceals and distracts from a thorough understanding of its root causes and deeper solutions.